Henry Teare was training for his school triathlon when he fell ill and was diagnosed with a rare and life-threatening blood disorder, leaving him in desperate need of a stem cell donation12:50, 27 Jul 2026Updated 12:52, 27 Jul 2026Dan Jarvis highlights Max Johnson's six-month-long wait for a heart transplantA 10-year-old boy is searching for a stem cell donor to give him a 'second chance of life'.‌Sport loving Henry Teare was training for his school triathlon when he fell ill. His devastated parents Alison and Peter were shocked to discover that he had a rare and life threatening blood disorder.‌The Mirror joined forces with the charity DKMS to help find a donor for schoolboy Leo Sproson earlier this year. We are doing so again to help Henry. Alison, of West Sussex, said: “Henry is naturally pale, but we had noticed that he wasn’t rosy cheeked like he used to be. He started feeling breathless and felt lightheaded after running, but initially we just thought that this was to do with his fitness levels.‌"We started to worry when he became unwell at school. Henry was still in training for his school triathlon just before his diagnosis, but he was finding exercise more challenging. We had already booked a GP appointment when a friend commented on how pale he was looking, and recommended that we get his bloods checked, so we brought him straight to A&E.”His haemoglobin and platelet levels were dangerously low, and he also had a heart murmur, due to the low red blood cell count. Henry was transferred to the High Dependency Unit and had an emergency blood transfusion that very night.‌"He was transferred to London for a bone marrow biopsy, which confirmed he had severe aplastic anaemia, a life-threatening disorder meaning the bone marrow cannot produce enough new blood cells,” said Alison. "He is now reliant on regular blood transfusions and goes to the hospital for monitoring multiple times a week. “We had an overwhelming sense of shock and disbelief.“Henry has shown so much positivity and resilience. He approaches everything with a ‘can do’ attitude. He even helps the community nurse take his blood. It has to have a massive impact on him but he has never once said, ‘Why me?’.”Last year the Mirror helped to find a donor for Leo, from Bromsgrove in the Midlands. He was at the centre of a worldwide search for a match. His parents Jenna and Warren helped DKMS to find would-be donors who could save Leo and others like him with blood cancer.‌In 2024, we again joined forces with the charity last year to save Jasper Makungu, 12, who has sickle cell disease and flew 4,000 miles from his home in Zambia for treatment in India. He is now back home and recovering thanks to the transplant.Leo's mum Jenna Elwell, 41, who has her own pet care firm, worked with family and friends to encourage people to come forward to take swab tests to help Leo.‌DKMS spokesperson, Bronagh Hughes, said: “For Henry and patients like him, a total stranger joining the register could give them their lives back."The process is very simple, it’s so easy to give someone a second chance. Joining the register only requires answering a few questions, and a few simple and painless mouth swabs. It takes ten minutes of your time, but you could be the match that Henry, or someone else like him, is waiting for.”Most people who join the stem cell donor register will never be called to donate, but if you are matched to a patient, nine out of ten times the donation can be completed through a simple, non-surgical procedure, similar to donating blood platelets, and DKMS supports donors every step of the way.Article continues belowThe Mirror Change the Law for Life campaign brought the opt out system to England for organ donation in May, 2020. It is named in honour of our campaigner Max Johnson, now 17, of Winsford, Cheshire, and his nine-year-old heart donor Keira Ball, who tragically died in a car accident near her home in Barnstaple, Devon in 2017.To find out more, or order a swab kit, visit: dkms.org.uk